By Michelle Sandlin

Updated 5:07 pm, Thursday, October 17, 2013

One of the single most emotionally stressful life events can be a relocation. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's a move across the ocean, across the country, or a move that is just one state over. A relocation is a critical time in a person's life, as it often means uprooting an entire family from the comforts of a life they have come to know and love.

Relocation can also signal a time of opportunity and new beginnings, which often starts with a positive attitude. This was the case for the Billy and Carlie Barbier, who moved to Houston earlier this year when Billy accepted a new job with BASF.

The Barbiers relocated to Houston from a small town just outside of Baton Rouge, La. As with many employment-based relocations, the Barbiers were faced with moving to Houston rather quickly.

Upon hearing the news, Carlie said her reaction was, "Let's go!"

"Being from Louisiana is a different culture and your friends and family are all willing to do anything for you at the drop of a hat, so I think that kind of made us a little scared and nervous, because we weren't going to have all of our family and friends around.

"But, I like a challenge, and seeing new things and new places, and so I said let's go," Carlie said.

Carlie also said that she is happy about the move because she thinks it is really great opportunity for Billy's career.

Fortunately, the Barbiers were able to sell their home in Louisiana within a week of putting it on the market, and subsequently put an offer in on a new-construction property in the Firethorne community in Katy, and were here within about 30 days.

In general, that sounds like a pretty fast and easy relocation, but there were many considerations that went into that decision for the Barbiers, who were not very familiar with the Houston area.

"Schools were a big consideration. We have a son who just turned 2 years old, so we wanted to make sure that we were in a good school district for when he does start school," said Carlie.

One thing that really helped the Barbiers in choosing a neighborhood was the fact that they had friends who had recently moved to Houston and were able to lean on them for information that helped ease their transition.

"Luckily we had friends who had gone through the same process a few months earlier, so we had come to visit them and they showed us around, mainly in the Katy area. They gave us some insight into the things they had learned during the previous months that they had been here. Based on the easy location of being off I-10 and the distance that my husband would have to drive to work,

"Katy seemed like a good place for us to go, too," Car;oe said.

The Barbiers also worked with an agent who was proactive in educating them to the Houston real estate market, and who had sent statistics and reports, and made them aware that they would have to act quickly in putting in contract as soon as they found the right house.

"We had looked at some houses when we were visiting our friends who had moved here, and the amount of houses that had already been built and sold during a 4- or 5-week timespan was just unbelievable, so we knew that we would have to make a decision quickly," Carlie said.

The Barbiers ended up purchasing one of the first houses they had seen and moved to Houston soon thereafter.

Carlie said their agent was instrumental in welcoming them to their new community.

"Our agent introduced us to some people and kept us in the know of everything that is going on and has definitely recommended a lot of activities for us to do. Our neighbors are great and it's been very welcoming," she said.

According to Carlie, the best advice that she could give to anyone relocating to Houston is to get used to the fact that everything is bigger and further away, but to not be afraid of meeting new people.

"We've been able to meet so many people from other states, and we've been able to relate to them, whether it's through college football or our kids or through whatever work that we do," she said.